Table 1.

Serum Levels of Total, Direct Bilirubin, AST, ALT, Albumin, and Ammonia and Fibrosis Grade in the SHAM and BDL Groups at Postoperative Day 14.

	SHAM	BDL
Total bilirubin (mg/dl)	0.56 ± 0.20	6.48 ± 0.38***
Direct bilirubin (mg/dl)	0.13 ± 0.08	3.88 ± 1.76**
AST (U/L)	67.88 ± 24.70	263.66 ± 59.13***
ALT (U/L)	39.80 ± 3.70	85.40 ± 19.93**
Albumin (g/dl)	3.94 ± 0.24	3.08 ± 0.35**
Ammonia (U/L)	101.00 ± 7.17	378.80 ± 90.54***
Fibrosis grade	0.28 ± 0.48	3.22 ± 0.66***

Note. To quantify liver fibrosis, the following criteria were used in this study with the aid of the Knodell histology activity index: 0 = no fibrosis; 1 = fibrous expansion of some portal tract with or without short fibrous septa; 2 = fibrous expansion of most portal tracts with or without fibrous septa; 3 = fibrous expansion of portal tract with an occasional portal to portal bridging; 4 = fibrous expansion of portal tracts with marked portal to portal as well as portal to central bridging; and 5 = marked bridging (portal to portal and/or portal to central) with occasional nodules. Data are expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean (n = 4 per group). AST = aspartate aminotransferase; ALT = alanine aminotransferase; BDL = bile duct ligation.

**p < .01 and ***p < .001 versus SHAM.